From the top of the building, you could see the sun setting on the horizon. Darkness devours this side of the world, and the mystery grows deeper and deeper. Night, the perfect time for magus, is approaching.
He is once again in that high place, watching the sunset without expression beneath his mask. Sakura looks at his back, remembering that moment in little Alek's life.
"It's time, Master," said Assassin, turning to look at Sakura.
She nodded. They had spent the entire afternoon thinking about what to do next and decided that the weakest target would be the Master of Saber. He is an inexperienced magus, he is wounded, and his servant is the same. Assassin and Sakura are going to take advantage of that.
Assassin held out his hand for Sakura to take. She was surprised. For a moment, she thought Toru wanted to turn this moment into something romantic, but she realized that was just her wishful thinking. Assassin would never do that, not now.
"We must go fight, Master. You take care of the boy and I'll take care of Saber. Once you kill the Master, Saber will have lost."
That's what they both agreed on. Sakura is not weak; her blows are extremely powerful. A single blow was enough to make Toru bleed. That's more than enough for this battle.
It's a simple plan. If there are no interruptions, everything will go well. So, let's go.
Sakura put her arms around Toru's neck and he lifted her up as if he were carrying a princess. Sakura's face flushed because it had been a long time since they had last done this. She hugged him and smiled.
Then, Toru took a step into the void, and the wind beneath his feet solidified. He stepped hard on the wind, and it exploded the moment he propelled himself forward. Sakura felt a powerful force pull her backward the moment Toru began to jump into the air at the speed of sound.
Together, they went to where Toru's last clones had disappeared. The Fuyuki Church.
***
There is still one clone looking into the distance. It is watching Saber, who stood like a statue in front of the door, but disappeared a few seconds later.
The church is the neutral zone. The moment someone dares to break into that place to kill a master, they automatically lose their right to participate in the war. That is why Assassin and Sakura chose this moment. When Shirou gets far enough away from the church, his death will be certain.
As for Shirou himself, inside the church, he encountered a man with empty eyes. He looked like the father of the church, so he must be the judge of the war.
"You have come here to find out what you must do. I can see it in your eyes," said the man, with a strange smile on his face. It was as if someone who felt absolutely nothing related to human emotions was trying to smile.
Shirou felt intimidated by the presence of the church father. He was tall and robust. He seemed to have enough strength to easily knock down his opponent.
He hesitated to ask, but decided he needed to know what was going on.
"Masters. Servants. A war... Explain to me what is happening here."
The man first introduced himself as Kotomine Kirei, the priest of Kotomine Church in Fuyuki City. Shirou also introduced himself. Then Kirei, with a strange mood, explained the basics to Shirou before getting into the darker topics.
Seven Masters summon historical figures they call Servants and fight each other to earn the right to obtain a wish from the omnipotent Chalice, the Holy Grail.
As Shirou suspected, this is not the first war. There have been four others before this one. The last one took place ten years ago, and its outcome was disappointing. No one won, so the grail regenerated earlier than it should have, ten years later. Furthermore, the consequences of the fourth war were what destroyed much of Fuyuki.
Shirou trembled as he remembered that tragedy. It was too ridiculous that such massive destruction, which claimed the lives of thousands of people, was the result of a gas leak. But the inhabitants of Fuyuki already know this, yet they ignore it out of fear of the mysterious.
However, the damage would not have been so severe if it weren't for a Servant who executed his Noble Phantasm at the last moment. That Noble Phantasm was the giant star that lit up the night ten years ago. Shirou remembers seeing a blinding light through the window before everything exploded.
"That light..."
"It belonged to the Servant Assassin, ridiculous as it may seem," Kirei said seriously.
As Shirou sat on one of the church benches to process the truth of the tragedy ten years ago, Kirei explained the strengths and weaknesses of the Servant classes. This is something all magus know, but novices like Shirou were unaware of this information.
Then he understood why it was ridiculous for a servant like Assassin to cause so much destruction.
Magus are selfish and will do anything to get what they want, even if it means sacrificing this innocent city. Shirou clenched his fists tightly. If it weren't for those people, he would still be living with his parents and be happy, but tragedy struck him when he least expected it.
Before, there was no reason to fight and kill others, but Shirou now has the blood of the Einzbern family's homunculus on his hands. After discovering that magus are capable of creating such misfortune, he decided he must fight.
"The Grail is capable of granting any wish, isn't that right?" He looked at the ground, thinking deeply.
Kirei smiled. "Of course. Anything you desire can be yours as long as you earn the right to obtain that wish."
"I see..."
Emiya Shirou was never a selfish person. Rather, he was always the altruistic type. He helps anyone in need and is always willing to go above and beyond to help, but for years he had been wishing for one thing. Yes, he helped many, but who helped him?
If any of those magus won the Holy Grail, then it was possible that a tragedy like the one ten years ago would repeat itself. In that case...
"I will win... I will win this war and prevent everything from turning into hell..."
Kotomine Kirei applauded Shirou's words. He looked pleased, but his gaze was darker than at the beginning. He even looked like he wanted to laugh.
"Splendid, Emiya-kun. In a world where selfishness eats away at people's souls, will you be the one to save us from tragedy?"
Damn hypocrite...
But this time, Shirou wasn't going to be altruistic, much less a hero. With that desire, there was something he wanted to achieve. If he saved the city from destruction, then that would be a relief. There would be no more children like him.
Without answering Kirei, Shirou stood up and left the church.
Kirei, realizing that the boy with that person's surname had left, turned to enter the dark rooms of the church, but someone emerged from the darkness, smiling smugly. He was blond with blood-red eyes. He was so attractive that any weak-willed woman would fall at his feet.
It was Gilgamesh, the only servant who survived the catastrophe.
***
Outside, the sun had already set and the sky was dark. Shirou came out dazed and walking dejectedly. He had too much on his mind to want to talk to anyone, but unfortunately for him, Saber was waiting for him.
She looked at him and frowned. It seemed that her Master had been hit by the reality of the magus.
"Shirou..."
He walked past her, his gaze fixed on the road. "Let's go, Saber. We have to prepare for what's coming."
She looked confused. Shirou entered the church as himself, but when he left, he was someone else. Saber thought her master had changed, but no. This was Shirou's true face. The determination that formed in his gaze when the streetlights came on showed just that.
***
They arrived in time for the party. Assassin descended onto the top of a tree, releasing Sakura so she could run toward the target. Upon landing, Sakura rolled on the ground and clenched her fists. This time she was wearing her fighting boots, a short skirt with shorts underneath, and a black blouse with a brown vest.
Shirou was walking down the street with his servant, while Sakura and Toru moved through the trees in the forest. Toru jumped into the air and Sakura hid in the undergrowth. It was time to attack. The moment Toru lunged at Saber, Sakura would have to tackle Shirou to get him away from there.
The plan was foolproof, but a complication arose.
Both Saber and Assassin sensed a sinister presence.
"Master!" Assassin and Saber said to their respective Masters.
Suddenly, a thick fog formed in the atmosphere. It was so dense that the street lights were barely visible. Saber grabbed Shirou's hand and pulled him back.
At the same time, Toru descended to stand next to Sakura and protect her as well. Both remained hidden, so neither Saber nor Shirou noticed their presence.
"This is bad, Master. Our plan is ruined," said Toru.
Amidst the thick fog, two shadows moved like ghosts. One shadow was immense, as big as a mountain in the distance, and next to it, the small shadow of a girl approached.
"Good evening, Saber. Onii-chan, it seems you recovered too quickly. How cute," said the girl's shadow when it finally revealed itself.
It was Illya, casually appearing next to her Berserker.
"Master, stay back. She's dangerous."
"Oh, Saber. You're so clever. I'm sure Berserker will also have fun crushing you tonight. Onii-chan and I will also have a lot of fun, won't we?"
That disturbing smile Illya had made Shirou's blood run cold, but he wasn't going to allow this. Shirou clenched his fists tightly and multiple green lines lit up his body.
"Did they finally send you to kill me?" Shirou asked. "Did that damn old man order you to come to war to kill me?"
Illya tilted her head in confusion. "Hm? I came here because I wanted to see you. No one forced me. I'm not a puppet."
Shirou felt angry. The lines illuminated his body even more and his muscles swelled with power.
"I'm not going to believe anything you say. Saber, please take care of Berserker."
"I understand. I won't let him get close to you."
An imminent battle was about to begin, and both Sakura and Assassin thought the same thing. Whoever wins this fight will surely be weakened enough to die easily. This is not something either of them planned, but it was undoubtedly lucky that Illya and Berserker appeared.
—Near the bridge in Fuyuki City—
On the other side of the city, Rin and Archer were patrolling as they did every night, but they found nothing but seals that drain people's life energy and some clues that Caster and her Master might be responsible for this.
They were on the buildings near the coast, searching for more information with Archer's eagle eye, but they found nothing. There were two explanations for not finding anything. Either the enemy Masters were very good at hiding, or they were both very unlucky in their search.
It seemed that the second option was the true one.
"Rin. There's something," Archer said, materializing next to Rin.
"Really? Where? Let me see!"
After finding nothing, they finally had something. Archer told Rin that someone was letting out all their mana as a kind of wake-up call for any enemies to approach.
Although it seemed like a trap, Rin was interested in this enemy's behavior.
"They're near the water. I can't see them clearly because the culprit isn't visible from here, but maybe they're near one of the boats on the shore."
"Let's not wait any longer, Archer. Let's go see what it is."
Archer smiled. Rin was too excited tonight. If there was a fight, she wanted to be there to fight. So the servant took Rin in his arms and they jumped off the building.
***
Near the port, the elegant old pirate was standing on one of the boats, which was about to set sail. He helped his master onto the boat by grabbing his sweatshirt as if it were a handkerchief that had fallen to the ground.
"All right, boy. With this, someone should be coming soon. It's time to take them to our territory."
The master whispered words under his hood. This time, the servant felt proud of the dark things the boy was saying. As the war progressed, this boy's mind seemed to break more and more.
"Kill them all, Rider."
"Hahaha. That's what I'm going to do, chaval!"
A battle in the thick, mysterious fog. A strange fight on a boat in the water. This is starting to look like a real war.